Article Summary
Applying models that influence consumers’ behavior is a significant focus of every company. Organizations are utilizing various opportunities such as strategic marketing models to influence consumer-purchasing behavior and cultures. The growth of social media, electronic marketing, and payments platform realigns conventional marketing principles with customer-buying trends. Contemporary marketing is hiring influential politicians, musicians, footballers, and legendary designers, to influence consumers’ interests and purchasing decision. Hani, Marwan, and Andre demonstrate how celebrity marketing influences consumer behaviors and lead to improved product sales or enhanced service absorption levels (191). The authors maintain that product promotion have become a fundamental principle in every business and hence enhance competitive advantage (191). Therefore, to improve purchasing behavior, cultures, intentions, and disposition, organizations are soliciting celebrities as a tool for marketing. (Hani et al. 191). Although advertisement approaches, such as product branding, effective pricing, and quality/value positioning influence behavior, celebrity marketing stimulates consumer-purchasing intentions and hence improve sales and comparative advantage.
Marketing models influence consumers’ buying behavior. The approaches employ persuasion as a tool to compel customers to buy a sponsored brand. The celebrity endorsement strategy uses ads, hosted on various platforms, to create an appeal to the targeted consumer (Hani et al. 192). Hani et al. illustrate that celebrity’s products validation creates a perception of brands and has the propensity to induce preference and create the willingness to buy (192). Such perceptions can have various inclinations, such as environmental, fashion oriented, and religious based appeals, depending on the cultures of the targeted consumers. Although several factors influence the choice of celebrity for the product to endorse, Hani et al. aver that level of fame, area or recognition, and targeted consumers are significant factors when identifying a brand celebrity (192). The authors also confirm that attractiveness of acelebrity,regarding to cultural viewpoints are based on attributes, such as intelligence, charisma, and physical allure (192). Employing celebrity endorsements strategy is a progressive tool that influence consumer-purchasing behavior and can target consumers from any age, social class, religious affiliations, and interests.
Luxury brands, such as jewelry, bags, wearable, phones, and other high-end products fetch high prices in the market. The study by Hani et al. employs the match-up theory to explain the correlation between the celebrity endorser and consumer behavioral traits (192). The authors explain that the attractiveness and credibility of endorser has a direct connection with a customer recalling the ad viewed on a marketing platform and the purchase intentions influences to purchase products (192). Jewelry products are expensive in the Lebanon market, which leads to passive willingness to buy. Strategies have been employed to ensure adjustment to market rates to facilitate improved sales. However, consumer interests have remained low due to pricing perceptions. According to Hani et al., when the celebrity endorsement model was applied to the jewelry market, the consumer appeal to products was enhanced leading to accelerated sales (194). Celebrity endorsement invokes feelings, arouses connections, and influences purchase decisions irrespective of product prices.
Lebanese jewelry industry is fast adopting celebrity validation strategy.Hani et al. reveal that consumers are sensitive to product price irrespective of the endorsements applied. However, the study confirms that women aged between 20 and 50 years are more influenced by digital marketing models.Hani et al. confirm that, “The celebrity endorser fame and esteem incites the consumers’ willingness to buy the promoted jewelry brand” (194). Therefore, the strategy has significant influence on consumer behavior and stimulates purchasing decision leading to comparative advantage.
Analysis
The process of consumer behavior is employed to create interest or persuasions to products. Products that effectively respond to the needs can influence customers’ consumption and purchasing trends. Due to competition levels in the market, companies attempt to focus on the internal desires, external needs, and interest of customers to establish products that satisfy them (Toncre 3). By creating a mix of products, customers are given variety to choose from. However, given the availability of several brands in the market, organization are applying celebrity marketing to influence purchasing trends. Local and international celebrities wield influence on their followers and using them as brand ambassador influences consumer perception to products. The ethnography of consumer connects consumer-purchasing trends to artifacts that inspire (Toncre 6) Therefore, customer buying styles are highly swayed by luminaries or the celebs interest in such products.
Changing global cultures respond differently to products in the market. The market place is defined by cultural values, which continue to shift, based on the interest of the consumer (Juliana and Ketelaar 87). According to Del and Mothersbaugh, recent US studies indicate that people place greater significance in excitement and fun and are oriented towards stimulations, thrills, and pleasurable life (6). Exploiting celebrity endorsement in marketing responds to the values of environmental protection, sensual gratification, and other-oriented value depending on the type of personality used..
The environment has become a major focus of the business world. The marketing interests are shifting towards greener trends. Products manufactured with limited waste, with positive impacts on the environment access better market compared to traditional ones (Del and Mothersbaugh, 15). Eco celebrity star endorsements have been utilize for green products, such as vehicles and cosmetic products since they induce influence and change perceptions of the customers (Juliana and Ketelaar 87). Other celebrity products that respond to different cultural traits are judged as either contemporary or conservative depending on media used and how presentable the celebrity is. Hence, cultures play an important role in managing communications and influence trends of products consumption.
Conclusion
Purchasing decisions are determined by several attributes in the market. Culture is important in influencing consumer trends. Marketing management focuses on product branding, quality, and effective pricing, which influence buying decision of advertised brands. However, celebrity marketing stimulates consumer-purchasing intentions through lifestyle, behavior, and connection to social strata leading to improved sales and comparative advantage. Products that meet social standards are purchased compared to those that appeal to a wider communal interest. Therefore, organizations that utilize models such as celebrity endorsement to appeal to cultures and certain behavioral traits stimulate buying trends. In addition, fashion celebrities appeal effectively to classy products while environmentalist and conservationist experts are paid to market green technology products. Accordingly, managing consumer perceptions determine the success or failure of products in the market. Therefore, it is important that companies utilize principles and approaches that integrate various cultures and behavioral traits to market their products to the target consumers using methods such as celebrity endorsement for comparative advantage.
Works Cited
Blasche, Juliana, and Paul E. Ketelaar. “The synergy in green persuasion: Green celebrity endorsers in green advertising: A study of brand-endorser congruence effects in green advertising.” vol. 24, 2015, pp. 82-106. www.repository.ubn.ru.nl/bitstream/handle/2066/150798/150798.pdf accessed on 20 Feb 2019
Hani, Safi, Azouri Marwan, and Azouri Andre. “The Effect of Celebrity Endorsement on Consumer Behavior: Case of the Lebanese Jewelry Industry.” Arab Economic and Business Journal, vol. 13, no. 2, 2018, pp. 190-196. doi.org/10.1016/j.aebj.2018.11.002
Hawkins, Del I., and David L. Mothersbaugh. “Consumer behavior: Building marketing strategy. 13th ed., McGraw-Hill Irwin, 2016.
Professor Toncre. “Consumer Behavior” Cengage Learning, 2016